Alice Guy , the woman who established Cinema as a storytelling medium and a viable business. On the Barricade 1907 ‘L'enfant de la barricade’ Directed by Alice Guy

Review by Quinn Bailey ★★★★½ 3

Alice Guy Presents The Hurt Locker

In all seriousness, Guy's take on the anti-war movie is pretty damn effective, even if it's not quite as visually or narratively ambitious as some of her other work. The story's simple but touching, and cleverly builds character through action rather than exposition (side note: you've got to love how Guy doesn't give a single shit about putting title cards in her movies). The standout here, however, is a surprisingly visceral battle sequence that plays out entirely in a wide shot, allowing the audience to clearly see all of the carnage and its human cost. I loved this, but your mileage may vary with this depending on how rabid of an Alice Guy fan you are/how much you can handle the tropes of early cinema. Easily worth four minutes of your time.

Final question: is this the first anti-war movie? The only war movie I can find that was made before this one is a 90-second propaganda film from the time of the Spanish war, so I'm gonna say yes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch? 

Alice Guy , the woman who established Cinema as a storytelling medium and a viable business. 

v=AKQUiac27dMUn jeune garcon, sorti pour aller aux provisions, est pris pour un emeutier dans une embuscade avec la troupe. On se prepare a le fusiller au moment ou sa mere, venue inquiete a sa rencontre...

Alice Guy-Blaché really may have been the earliest great director. She guides the eye through the frame and makes use of the entire space like no one else at the time. Another thing that's interesting about this film is that, while set during the French Revolution, the characters are all dressed in modern (for the time) clothing, which is something that may or may not be intentional, but I've only seen that type of thing in "Transit" (2018). I actually think it works pretty well in both films, while obviously having more of an impact in the 2018 film.

I actually found myself caring for the main character, and by some extent his mother. Now I get why people make a big deal about this sort of lost cinema legend, Alice Guy! 

Review by Jessica Minster ★★★★